Sir: The Kiwanis Club of Chatham-Kent is extremely grateful to our community for its support of the recent Children’s Art Competition.
In partnership with the Chatham Cultural Centre and Thames Art Gallery, this competition was designed to encourage artistic talents in youth within our community and to raise funds for the Kiwanis International project to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus around the world.
The three winning entries will be submitted for auction at the Eastern Canada and Caribbean District convention in Charlottetown, PEI, this month, with proceeds dedicated to ELIMINATE.
We received submissions from school-aged children in five communities in Chatham-Kent and were very impressed with the quality of the work based on the theme of “We Build Bridges for Children to the Future.”
We would like to thank the individuals who made this possible:
• Chatham Cultural Centre staff: Irene McCredie, program co-ordinator, for coordinating the partnership and providing guidance in the process and for serving as a judge; and Donna Nolan, marketing assistant who designed great posters, helped with promotion and also created the certificates for the winners, and other staff who assisted with the display of the children’s work.
• Municipal staff, librarians, churches and community members who assisted with the distribution of the posters
• Local artist Sandra VanRaay and Kiwanian Joyce Martin-Bruce, who were judges.
• Ken Kopko from the Maple Art Gallery in Chatham for the professional matting of the art.
• Art teachers and parents who encouraged the students to participate in this competition.
This was an extremely worthwhile project for many reasons, including the recognition of the talents of children, demonstration of community partnerships, and increased awareness of the goals of Kiwanis and ELIMINATE, as well as fundraising to support the project. We could not have done it without the assistance of many generous community members and we sincerely appreciate the support.
Cathy Telfer
Past president and chair of publicity
Kiwanis Club of Chatham-Kent
